1 Thess. 5:23, Phil. 3:15-16
1 Thessalonians 5:23-28
IV. FINAL GREETINGS TO THE THESSALONIANS (5:23-28)
5:23 Now Paul prays for the sanctification of the Christians. The source is the God of peace. The scope is found in the word completely, meaning “every part of your being.”
This verse has been pressed into service by some to prove the “Holiness” doctrine of entire sanctification—that a believer can become sinlessly perfect in this life.
However, that is not what Paul means when he prays, the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. He is not praying for the eradication of the sin nature but rather that sanctification would extend to every part of their being—spirit, soul, and body.
EXCURSUS ON SANCTIFICATION
There are four phases of sanctification in the NT—pre-conversion, positional, practical or progressive, and perfect.
1. Even before a person is saved, he is set apart in a position of external privilege. Thus we read in 1Co_7:14 that an unbelieving husband is sanctified by his believing wife. This is pre-conversion sanctification.
2. Whenever a person is born again, he is positionally sanctified by virtue of his union with Christ. This means that he is set apart to God from the world. It is referred to in such passages as Act_26:18; 1Co_1:2; 1Co_6:11; 2Th_2:13; Heb_10:10, Heb_10:14.
3. But then there is progressive sanctification. This is a present setting apart of the believer to God from the world, sin, and self. It is the process by which he becomes more Christlike. This is the sanctification which Paul prays for the Thessalonians here. It is also found in 1Th_4:3-4; 2Ti_2:21. It is brought about by the Holy Spirit when we are obedient to the word of God (Joh_17:17; 2Co_3:18). Such practical sanctification is a process that should continue as long as the believer is on earth. He will never achieve perfection or sinlessness on earth, but he should ever be pressing toward that goal.
4. Perfect sanctification refers to the believer's final condition in heaven. When he goes to be with the Lord, he will be morally like the Lord, completely and finally set apart from sin (1Jn_3:1-3).
The apostle also prays for the preservation of the Thessalonians. This preservation should include the complete person—spirit, soul, and body. Notice the order. Man always says body, soul, and spirit. God always says spirit, soul, and body. In the original creation, the spirit was of first importance, the body last. Sin reversed the order; man lives for the body and neglects the spirit. When we pray for one another, we should follow the biblical order, putting spiritual welfare before physical needs.
From this verse and others, it is clear that we are tripartite beings. Our spirit is that part which enables us to have communion with God. Our soul has to do with our emotions, desires, affections, and propensities (Joh_12:27). Our body is the house in which our person dwells (2Co_5:1).
All of our parts need to be preserved entire, that is, complete and sound. One commentator has suggested the needs for preservation as follows:
1. The spirit from (a) everything that would defile it (2Co_7:1); (b) everything that would hinder the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the saints' relationship with God (Rom_8:16); or (c) everything that would prevent the worship which He seeks (Joh_4:23; Php_3:3).
2. The soul from (a) evil thoughts (Mat_15:18-19; Eph_2:3); (b) fleshly appetites that war against it (1Pe_2:11); and (c) contention and strife (Heb_12:15).
3. The body from (a) defilement (1Th_4:3-8); and (b) evil uses (Rom_6:19).
Some deny that the unsaved have a spirit. Perhaps they base this on the fact that they are spiritually dead (Eph_2:1). However, the fact that the unsaved are spiritually dead does not mean that they have no spirit. It means that they are dead as far as fellowship with God is concerned. Their spirits may be very much alive, for example, as far as contact with the world of the occult is concerned, but they are dead Godward.
Lenski warns:
Many are satisfied with a partial Christianity, some parts of their life are still worldly. The apostolic admonitions constantly prod into all the corners of our nature so that none may escape purification.
The prayer goes on to desire that God's sanctification and preservation will so extend to every part of their personalities that the believers will be blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This seems to point to the Judgment Seat of Christ, which follows the Rapture. At that time, the Christian's life, service, and testimony will be reviewed, and he will be rewarded or suffer loss.
5:24 As we learned in 1Th_4:3, our sanctification is the will of God. He has called us to eventually stand blameless before Him. Having begun this work in us, He will finish it (Php_1:6). He who calls us is faithful to His promise.
5:25 As Paul closes, he asks for the prayers of the saints. He never outgrew the need for prayer and neither do we. It is a sin to fail to pray for fellow believers.
5:26 Next he asks that all the brethren be greeted with a holy kiss. At that time, this was the accepted mode of greeting. In some countries it is still customary for men to kiss men, and women to kiss women. In still other cultures men kiss the women and vice versa. But more often than not this has led to abuses and has had to be abandoned.
The kiss was not instituted by the Lord as a prescribed form of greeting or taught by the apostles as obligatory. The Bible wisely allows for other modes of greeting in cultures where kissing might lead to sexual laxness. The Spirit of God seeks to guard against such irregularities by insisting that the kiss must be holy.
5:27 The apostle solemnly charges that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren. Two points should be noted here:
1. Paul invests the Letter with the authority of the word of God. The OT was read publicly in the synagogues. Now this epistle will be read aloud in the churches.
2. The Bible is for all Christians, not for some inside circle or privileged class. All its truths are for all the saints.
Denney wisely insists:
There is no attainment in wisdom or in goodness which is barred against any man by the gospel; and there is no surer mark of faithlessness and treachery in a church than this, that it keeps its members in a perpetual pupilage or minority, discouraging the free use of Holy Scripture, and taking care that all it contains is not read to all the brethren.
Notice that in verses 25-27 we have three keys to a successful Christian life: (1) prayer (v. 25); (2) love for fellow believers, which speaks of fellowship (v. 26); and (3) reading and study of the word (v. 27).
5:28 Finally we have Paul's characteristic close. He opened his First Epistle to the Thessalonians with grace, and now he closes it with the same theme. To the apostle Christianity is grace from beginning to end. Amen.
You are god.
J.
